Sunday, November 10, 2013

Chievo 0, Milan 0: Nothing To See Here

The title says it all. I knew when I woke up at 5am to post
the lineups and saw the 4-4-1-1 that Allegri was going to sabotage another one
for us. And this against the bottom of the table side. Even better that they actually
scored a goal that was wrongly called off. I think I want that 90 minutes of my
life back. Certainly the 90 minutes of sleep.

Kaka has his savior, but can he be ours? Can one player do it all?

So the 4-4-1-1 was more than just the formation. It was
Allegri showing his hand that he had no intention of playing attacking
football. Call it The Ajax Theory™, but when your job is in serious doubt, you
simply can’t afford to let in a goal. Or score any, for that matter.

Whereas for Chievo, it is their second scoreless (almost)
draw this week, they have to be content with earning their 5th point of the
season. Milan, meanwhile have only 13 points in 12 games. The last time they
did worse than that was in 1981-82, they had only 9 points in 12 games, and
were subsequently relegated at the end of the season. So well done, everyone.
We’re still 4 points from the relegation zone, and only 19 points off of the
league leaders.

Matri is like that mess of hair and grease that clogs your drain... and he plays like it, too.

The good news is that we had 75% possession. So if Allegri
wants to continue leading the league in possession, well done. But taking 23
shots with only 3 on goal when your opponent only needs 6 shots to get 2 on
goal, it tells you something about the game plan. Because when the game plan is
to dig your head in the sand and defend against a team that started this match
with only 4 points in 11 games, something is seriously wrong with the plan.

There were a couple of interesting moments, I guess. Like
when Montolivo, already on a yellow and having earned a match ban for card
accumulation, made another ridiculous tackle in the 83rd to earn his second
yellow in the match and be sent off. But not to be outdone, Pelissier, who had
only come on in the 65th, apparently got back to back yellows in the 90th. I
think the first was for a foul, and the second for protesting, but both teams
finished on 10 men.

And that's our captain... all class.... or something

Robinho had a couple of misses that only he could miss… one
that hit the bar and one where he was 1v1 with Puggioni. But lots of people had
misses, even Kaka. Speaking of Kaka, Allegri’s new game plan seems to simply be
“pass it to Kaka.” Whether or not he is open, near the goal, facing the goal,
or maybe even on the pitch. Speaking of which, he was subbed off for Cristante
in the 85th, the third in a series of yet another match with questionable subs
from Allegri.

Which brings me to the final point in the post that is
almost as lethargic and meaningless as this match… Allegri has been confirmed.
Again. According to him, all the team lacked in this match was a goal. Which
Paloschi got, but was taken from him by Orsato & Co. But if it had stood,
wouldn’t it have counted for both teams, since he is co-owned?

If you missed this match, you got more sleep than I did. And
the only thing you missed was more pain and angst from the team that used to at
least occasionally bring us joy. So if you were hoping for a better writeup,
sorry. I gotta have something to write about. But if you did get more sleep,
well done. That’s one more success than Milan had today. Nothing to see here,
people. Nothing to see.